Mental illness accounts for nearly half of all ill health in people under 65, but only a quarter of people are given the treatment they need, according to a new report published today by the London School of Economics. The report has been written by a distinguished group of mental health and health policy professionals from [read the full story…]
We have posted previously about the use of physical interventions in services supporting people with learning disabilities, drawing attention to the high levels of use in people described as having challenging behaviour. The researchers in this study in the Netherlands set out to look at the antecedent factors of restraint in people with learning disabilities [read the full story…]
The newer second-generation antipsychotic drugs (Risperidone, Quetiapine, Amisulpride, Aripiprazole, Clozapine, Olanzapine) are promoted because they have a lower risk of extrapyramidal side effects than older drugs. Drug companies often promote these newer drugs as virtually free from extrapyramidal side effects, but the patients who take them and the clinicians who prescribe them often don’t agree. [read the full story…]
Ooh, what a palaver over the depression and exercise story! Such a lot of words have been written about the study published in the BMJ last week, including by me. The study itself was well conducted but frankly disappointing (for us readers and the researchers themselves), finding as it did that a specific treatment to [read the full story…]
Erotomania, sometimes known as ‘de Clerambault’s syndrome’ is a rare disorder, classified under the group of delusional disorders, where a person wrongly believes another person is in love with them. The object of the delusion is often a person of higher social status. The person with the disorder will make advances to the object of [read the full story…]
Back from my 5-mile run around the woodland yesterday morning I sat down to catch up on the latest elf stories. Many of the national newspapers reported on a new randomised controlled trial published in the BMJ, which studied ‘facilitated physical activity’ for people with depression. The headlines seemed to be in agreement: Exercise ‘no [read the full story…]
Commissioners, health professionals and social care professionals will all be interested in the new Long Term Conditions Compendium of Information published by the Department of Health. This third edition updates the version produced in 2008 and provides the evidence for improving care and outcomes for people with long-term conditions. 70% of the total health and [read the full story…]
Child sexual abuse is a widespread social problem, which can cause a range of mental health conditions including fear, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, behavioural problems, inappropriate sexual behaviour and an increased risk of psychological problems in adulthood. Cognitive behavioural therapy is often used to help children (and their non-offending parent) to manage the conditions that [read the full story…]
Non-directive supportive therapy (NDST) has been defined as “a psychological treatment in which therapists do not engage in any therapeutic strategies other than active listening and offering support, focusing on participants’ problems and concerns” (Arean et al., 2010). We know from research studies that there are many types of psychological therapy that work well in [read the full story…]
In 2010, the Scottish Government’s National Telecare Development Programme published a report on telecare and people with learning disabilities. The authors defined telecare as “the use of equipment within and outwith the home to monitor changing needs and risks, and to provide alerts and information that enable improved and informed responses to those needs and [read the full story…]
